After a protest was filed at the GAO, a procuring agency delayed implementing the mandatory statutory suspension of work, then amended the awardee’s contract to permit the awardee to fully perform before the suspension actually kicked in.
Then the agency got caught.
In a recent decision, the GAO sustained a protest because the agency had circumvented the GAO’s bid protest process. But while the agency got busted–a good thing–the penalty it will pay is less than satisfactory.
The GAO’s decision in SCB Solutions, Inc.–Reconsideration, B-410450.2 (Aug. 12, 2015) involved a Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) RFQ for personal identity verification cards. The RFQ was issued via the GSA’s eBuy system to holders of GSA Schedule 70 contracts. The RFQ stated that award would be made on a lowest-priced, technically-acceptable (LPTA) basis.
The RFQ called for the issuance of a single, fixed-price delivery order for 400,000 PIV cards. The PIV cards were to be provided in five production runs of 80,000 each. Within 30 days of award, the contractor was to deliver a test run of 100 cards. After the agency accepted the test run, the contractor was to deliver the remainder of the first production run; delivery of the other production runs would follow.
Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/agency-pulls-a-fast-one-at-gao-and-gets-caught/
